Mikes Mix

[Fickle3]

If you're new to mixing, then you've got a lot to be proud of here already! There's a bit of a low mid-range bulge in the overall tonality that makes the whole production sound slightly woolly to me, but a couple of decibels of buss EQ low cut remedies most of that so it's not a huge deal.

I like what you've done with the bass and drums in a general sense. You could perhaps put less 150Hz on the bass (because it feels like it's resonating there and imbalancing the line) and maybe try to tame a bit of the ride stick noise from the overheads, but those aren't big things either. A bit more low end and overall level to the snare too? Maybe. That timing moment I mentioned in my comments about uzilevi's mix apply here too.

I like your vision for most of the other backing instruments too, although I'd probably give the piano a bit more HF definition myself, and the electric guitars feel maybe a bit too forward in the overall texture, whether that's because of a richness in the upper midrange or from less blending effects I'm not sure. I wonder whether those electrics would also benefit from a moderate boost at around 600Hz too, as they do seem to come off a bit thin most of the time (a problem I've always had with the preview mix). You'd probably have to clear some room for them out of the piano, though, if you did that... it's inevitably a case of 'swings and roundabouts' with so many parts competing for attention!

The main weakness of your mix for me, though, is the lead vocal, which isn't yet really punching in the same league as everything else, somehow. It sounds almost comb-filtered in a rather unappealing way, but it's not odd-sounding enough to be an obvious 'special-effect' vocal either. It shouldn't be too tricky to get it sounding alright, to be honest -- I'd just give it a bit of cut around 400Hz or so, and a touch less low end in general, and then compress and de-ess (if necessary). It's well enough recorded that I don't think it should need anything heavy-duty. (That said, you'll not get away without some careful level automation later in the mix process if you want to hear all the words.)

The long-term dynamics are pretty respectable, but I have to say that I've yet to hear a version of this mix where section boundaries such as 1:42, 3:04, and 3:31 really knock my socks off, and this is where automation can really bring about revelations at the mix. It's particularly the sense of space that can create the most dramatic effects, so perhaps it's worth experimenting with automating your reverb sends and returns a bit more freely to see if there's additional creative potential to be tapped.

Thanks for the constructive criticism Mike.I do agree with everything you are saying, I just need to fine tune it. I'm going to make a note of everything you mentioned and give it a retry. I've yet to get my head around Automation but I think with some practice Ill get it. Maybe my speakers are off or arnt flat enough. I'm using a cheap pair of Alesis M1 Active's until I can afford better. I'll keep practising! Thanks again